Automatically-acting support for doors.



No. 771,753. PATENTED 00124, 1904.

- D. STANLEY.

AUTOMATICALLY ACTING SUPPORT FOR DOORS.

5H1 newton APPLICATION FILED APR. 27.1904.

Patented October 4, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL STANLEY, OF ELK CITY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

AUTOMATICALLY-ACTING SUPPORT FOR DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 771,753, dated October4, 1904.

Application filed April 27, 1904.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL STANLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elk City, in the county of Roger Mills, Oklahoma Territory,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatically-Acting Supports for Doors; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to an automatic clamp or supporting device forholding a door in a desired adjusted position for fitting the locksthereto or for placing the hinges thereon, and thus operatively mountingthe door in place; and my invention consists of certain novel featuresof combination and construction of parts, the preferred form whereofwill be hereinafter clearly set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

The main object of my invention, among others, is to provide a supportfor doors of the character specified which will automatically engage theedge of the door and tightly secure the same until the door is raisedout of engagement with the support.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for automaticallypressing a certain part of my support against a contiguous part of thedoor, and thereby hold said door securely in an adjusted position.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter fully set forth, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of thisapplication, and in which- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of myinvention complete and illustrating by dotted lines the position of thedoor when supported by my combined clamp and support. Fig. 2 is a topplan view of my automatic clamp and support, a part of which is shown insection.

ig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of my combined clamp andsupport. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the clamping memberscarried by each of the jaws.

In order to conveniently refer to the various details of my inventionand cooperating Serial No. 205,147. (No model.)

accessories, numerals will be employed, the same numeral applying to asimilar part throughout the several views.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 designates a door which hasbeen properly trimmed and ready to be hung or supported upon its hinges,and it therefore becomes desirable to support the outer edge thereof ata proper height whereby the door will not sag when the hinges aresecured in place. I therefore locate my improved supporting device sothat the two jaws, as indicated by the numerals 2 and 3, will receive apart of the door between them. Said jaws are each carried by a suitablebase-section, as indicated by the numerals 4 and 5, said base membersbeing hinged together at their meeting corners, as shown by the numeral6 in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that each of the base members 4: and 5 is providedwith the upwardly-directed guideways or flanges 7, which are designed toreceive between them the plates 8, each of said plates forming thebottom of the jaws 2 and 3, thereby rendering said jaws longitudinallymovable, whereby said jaws may be brought toward each other orseparated, as desired. I also provide the ears 8, each located at theinner end of the guideways 7 and on the same side of the base members 4and 5, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, said ears 'serving as a shoulder orstop for limiting the inward and outward movement of the jaws 2 and 3,inasmuch as it will be observed that each of said jaws is provided witha horizontally-disposed slotted opening 9, designed to cooperate withthe bolt l0,whereby when the thumb-screw 11 is turned the head 10 of thebolt .lOwill be loosened from engagement with the edges of the slot 9 orbrought tightly in contact therewith, as desired, thereby permitting theadjustment of the jaws to be effected as may be deemed necessary toenable them to receive between them doors of any preferred thickness.

In order to insure that the door will be tightly clamped, I provide thebrackets 12, upon which the edge of the door is designed to besupported. The brackets 12, it will be observed, are connected to andform an extension of the wedge-like members 13, a vertical slot 141-being formed in the inner face of each of the jaws 2 and 3 to receivethe projection 15 and to which is attached the vertically-disposedplates or clamping-faces 16, designed to come directly in contact with apart of the door interposed between the jaws. The wedge-like members 13play loosely up- Wardly and downwardly in a suitable opening provided inthe jaws 2 and 3 between the walls 17 and 18, the said slots 1 L beingformed in said wall 18, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Said wedge-likemembers 13 are held normally upward by means of the springs 19, alsovery clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the wedge-like member 13 may be provided withtwo of the brackets 15, as shown in Fig. 4:, if deemed productive ofbetter results than one bracket disposed in the middle portion of thewedge member, as shown in Fig. 3.

The upper end of the springs 19 reach through a suitable slot 20, formedin the wall 17, and are thus placed in engagement with the wedge members13, whereby the latter will be disposed normally upward.

I also provide the ear-like extensions or brackets 21 and 22 for each ofthe jaws 2 and 3, said brackets or extensions serving as a convenientform of handle and also as an extension of the supporting-base.

Having thus described the construction and combination of parts, theoperation of my improved supporting device and clamp for doors may bestated to be as follows: It will be understood that the jaws 2 and 3 areto be separated a proper distance according to the thickness of the doorto be received between them and the thumb-nuts turned home upon thebolts 10, thereby securely locking said jaws in an adjusted position.The door is then entered between the jaws, when it will rest upon thebrackets 12, and the weight of the door, it is obvious, will force saidbrackets downward and incidentally cause the wedge members 13 to movedown against the inclined face of the walls 17, the result being thatthe contacting plates 16 will be moved outward toward each other andagainst a contiguous part of the door interposed between the jaws,thereby causing the door to be very tightly clamped by its own weight,it being understood that the farther the door moves downward the tighterit will be engaged.

It will thus be seen that my improved clamp will be a very desirableinstrument for holding a door supported upon one edge while the otheredge is being finished and that when one edge is finished the door maybe reversed and the finishing process applied to the other edge. Byproperly adjusting the clamping jaws or housings 2 and 3 the door may bereliably secured in an adjusted position, so that the hinges may beplaced in proper position or proper measurements taken to indicate wheresuch hinges shall be located It will thus be seen that I have provided areliably efficient form of combined clamp and support for holding doors,frames, and the like in an adjusted position, and while I have describedthe preferred combination and construction of parts I wish to comprehendin this application all substantial equivalents and substitutes as maybe considered as falling fairly within the scope and purview of myinvention.

\N hat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described combined supporting device and clamp for holdingdoors in an adjusted position comprising suitable housing members orjaws 2 and 3; base members therefor 4 and 5, respectively and means toprovide for. a bodily inward and outward movement of said jaws upon saidbase members; clamping devices for locking said jaws at an adjustedpoint; wcdgelike members fitting in a suitable chamber within each ofsaid jaws; means to hold said wedge-like members normally elevated;brackets 12 carried by said wedge-base and extending outward through anopening in the face of said jaws whereby said. brackets will engage andsupport the door or frame placed thereon and force the wedge membersdownward and incidentally clamp the door and reliably hold it in anadjusted position, all combined substantially as specified and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DANIEL STANLEY.

Witnesses:

JUDD GUs'rnn, J. L. Cox.

